#the beholders;

[ringleaderising]

|| Dethrone || Styganite Beholder || Host-Hunter

"Your first mistake was blessing me with the Sight. I am not some mind-broken fool- I will strip you from on high with claw and fang- In black flame I burn-far too hot to fail."

[ringleaderising]

i am NOTHING if not a slut for matching accents/visual traits

Anyway I bought this absolute fucking BEAUTY of a Wildclaw off of @felixitous-rising and found the perfect accent for him on the AH before realizing it was not only the same colorway but the same artist as the skin I bought Desire for

so now Nestol is going to be her Beholder, because I need to bulk up their numbers.

[ringleaderising]

For lore asks: Tell me some fun facts about about Ducky

There are many facts about Ducky- it is up to everyone else to decide if they are 'fun' and not 'mildly to very concerning on the whole.'

He's always been particularly magically attuned, but his contact with a member of The Host set his talents on the fritz. His 'pearls' are actually fractured pieces held together by a subtle static/electrical charge, small, jagged pieces of his mind that are impossible to mend- until the INTRUDER is slain.

He's adapted his now-wild magical talents and the physical representation of his broken mental state into a weapon. Essentially a living railgun, his electromagnetically bonded pearl shards are capable of completely separating from where they sit at rest, in the shape of a cracked, albeit together set of small pearls, and being propelled violently not unlike a bullet with even very subtle agitation. He's a deadeye with these 'rounds' and their sharp, almost glass-like edges are capable of deep lacerations. He's only ever used this method of attack in self-defense, living in constant fear of being made a victim once more after his Beholder Incident.

Before he was made a Beholder, he was in the band ECHO! ECHO!- A group of young dragons that hang out at The Ever Constantine Mall as their lead singer- he sounds like this! He just had a consistent habit of sneaking off to the arcade when they were supposed to be passing out flyers or promoting- which led to his isolation upon the arrival of the INTRUDER.

He's the only Beholder connected to one of the members of the Host created in the immediate fallout of The Splintering- which because of the odd way time works in the Gaplands, makes him both the very first, and most recent Beholder.

He has a mild lisp, and "Ducky" is a nickname someone special to him gave him when he was much younger- it's all he really remembers about who he used to be, so he's clung to the name, despite perhaps, it seeming out of place as the title of a veritable prophet.

[ringleaderising]

For the FR lore ask thing:

Tell me a bit about The Hive and The Beholders. Who's your favorite in those two groups?

THE HIVE

At their most basic, the Hive are a largely insular, incredibly ancient group of Veilspuns who live on the outskirts of Vaudemire Way- they've been largely untouched by The Splintering, an incident that created the Gaplands and The Host themselves, but their members have a particularly substantial role within it- namely, Moth.

She's the young daughter of the lord and lady of The Hive, with a noted proclivity for running off and causing trouble within Vaudemire's streets- and it's her bite that allows those in town to perceive The Host as they wander among them. She is a fluttering sense of madness, a child gifting the people of an unsuspecting town with the ability to witness things not quite living without the mind-altering aftermath of a Beholder Event. She and the Scythes of Legacy are easily my favorites in the Hive.

Calla and Orchid are the lorekeepers of The Hive, the ever-watchful collectors of souls and chroniclers of history, they can often be found around Lorekeeper herself, informing her of the essential going-ons around the areas they maintain, so her stories remain as accurate as possible throughout the centuries.

THE BEHOLDERS

There aren't a lot of Beholders! And that'll change, over time, but as of now I've only got the three, because creating a Beholder requires a large scale event known as a "Beholder Event"- the presentation of a member of The Host making themselves known either in a pre-existing location among the Gaplands- or bursting through a doorway and creating a completely new one. The latter created Willow.

It is unclear what member of the Host created Willow, by all reports of those somewhat aware of the entities within it, her rambling, wild statements most closely match Mithos, The Heathen, but his appearance is oft stated to be something beautiful, not the rotten, shambling thing the Lanternlady sobs about into the dark. Some might write her off as mad, but she remains a clear example of the Beholders, blinded, weeping eyes easily confused at first for the Shadowbinder's Blessing- but something crueler, entirely.

It's however, very, very clear what member of The Host created Ducky. Once a completely normal young pearlcatcher who spent his weekends at the local mall with his bandmates and friends in ECHO! ECHO! The Splintering unleashed upon his favorite hang out the INTRUDER, and through the inky-black screens of a power outage one seemingly normal afternoon, Ducky's life was changed completely.

He carries now numerous 'pearls' formed around gnarled, sparking chips- his original one splintered into thousands of static-wrought pieces as the INTRUDER ripped through his frame in a desperate attempt to escape something following behind it. He is considered a missing persons, and is the vested source of guilt for a number of friends and family who swore to protect him- a shell of his former self, it's a hatred for what he once was, soft and kind, that has led to what he is today, ruthless and sharp. his madness is a tool, wielded like a weapon- lightning magic sparking through jagged, razor-sharp scraps of shattered pearl, volleyed at those foolish enough to walk too close not unlike a railgun projectile.

[ringleaderising]

Also, because I post about it a lot, and have never exactly... summed it up, my clan-lore is as follows:

Creatures and Places beyond our comprehension in Sornieth exist. While most have little want for anything the dragons calling our little rock 'home' could possibly offer- others seek power, control- others offer boons to those brave enough to seek them out. These entities are The Host- a collective of dragons who upon death did not die but ascended into something greater, Godhood in domains below the Deities we know and worship. Their presence bends and contorts, twists and mangles time, reality-the very minds of those who perceive them or take their hellish deals. Their presence can be felt across all of Sornieth, but in lesser, weaker presentations...

Save for some very special locations so in-tune with these Entities that their presence blots out even the connections of the most devout to those On High. They are ghost stories, cryptids, tales told around campfires and to keep children in line. They are all too real, in the Gaplands.

A Gap can find itself anywhere- a small, Neo-victorian town, a circus, an excavation performed under the nose of the law, a neon-drenched mall laden in 90s glory-days kitch, and a grand ghostly theater that seems to navigate the spaces for an ever-changing locale- But wherever a Gap may manifest, The Host follows, hungry for the control they were not given in life, they make bargains, trade your heart's desires for service to their name. Slipping through, a Gapland forms- a small zone where their power is greater, heralded by a Beholder event- the unwilling prophets of The Host created from hapless bystanders when the entities break through.

Many fear the Host. Some worship at their feet. Still more hunt them, seeking to right wrongs that created them in the first place.

Our Ghost Stories have basis in reality, Our devils are alive, and when push comes to shove- our monsters have always been people.